Google Play Store’s top new paid app was a total scam

Google has removed a fake anti-virus app called ‘Virus Shield’ that shot to the top of the charts on Play Store, following reports that it turned out to be a scam.

The $3.99 app was claimed to provide Android smartphone users protection from viruses, malware and spyware, while boosting the phone’s performance.

However, a report from Android Police revealed that the app would not in fact do anything; it would just change its icon from a red ‘X’ to a ‘v’ check icon when it was tapped on, pretending to be checking your smartphone for viruses.

With the app clocking 10,000 downloads, the app received a 4.7-star rating from nearly 1,700 users, with a further 2,607 recommendations for it to be placed on the Google Play store, which leap frogged it to the No. 1 new paid app and third overall top paid app.

Google Play also removed two Android apps last week, which were found to be exploiting innocent users’ phones to extract dogecoin and Litecoin.